At-A-Glance
Title: Spin the Golden Light Bulb
Author: Jackie Yeager
Series: The Crimson Five
Series Order: 1 of 3
Genre: Science Fiction
Audience: Middle Grade
Release Date: January 2018
This book reminds me of: The hover scooters and buses reminded me of Back to the Future, but the rest of the story felt unique.
Review
Spin the Golden Light Bulb is a sci-fi novel written by Jackie Yeager. It’s geared towards pre-teens and older. The story is set late into the 21st century and is about a girl named Kia Krumpet who loves to dream up inventions and is doing her best to avoid being forced to study and work with one subject for the rest of her life.
Kia is a creative young girl from New York state who wants to go to PIPS, a renowned school for the world’s smartest and most inventive kids. She might have passed the Piedmont challenge, but she and her four teammates will have to compete with 245 other students from across the nation, and overcome unforeseen setbacks, before their team can move on, compete in the internationals, and have a chance to go to PIPS.
I loved the book. I noticed no errors in spelling, punctuation, or grammar. The pace was great throughout the entire book. I recommend this book to people who like science fiction.
Storyline
It’s the year 2071 and eleven year-old Kia Krumpet is determined to build her 67 inventions, but she won’t have the opportunity to unless she earns a spot at PIPS, the Piedmont Inventor’s Prep School. Kia, who has trouble making friends at school, has dreamed of winning the Piedmont Challenge and attending PIPS ever since she learned that her Grandma Kitty won the very first Piedmont Challenge. After she and four of her classmates are selected to compete for a spot at PIPS, they travel by aero-bus to Camp Piedmont to solve a task against forty-nine other state teams to earn their place at the best inventor’s school in the country.
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Thanks to Greg Pattridge for hosting MMGM! Be sure to check out the other Marvelous Middle Grade Monday posts!
K.A. Cummins 
This sounds like an interesting read. I am curious about the inventions. Thanks for putting this book on my radar.
Happy New Year!
Welcome to Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday. Nice to see you here. Thanks to Keagan for a great review. I don’t read much sci-fi, but I have some young friends who might like this.
Great review, Keagan! This sounds like such a fun read—I remember dreaming of being an inventor as a kid, and this would have been a story I would have loved! And Kia sounds like an excellent protagonist as well. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you! Invention and creativity being main themes in the book is interesting. The protagonist is definitely my favorite character.
What a great cover! Sounds like a great book. :) Thanks for sharing!
What a fun sounding book and your review did an excellent job laying out the positive points. I’ve added this to my future read list. Thanks for featuring on MMGM. I hope to see more reviews of other books you’ve read.
Thanks, Greg! Thank you for including my review in the MMGM lineup this week! The book was definitely a fun read. Hope you enjoy it!
Yes, welcome to MMGM! Haven’t seen a book that focuses on schools that encourage kids to invent. Will have to check this book out! It’s futuristic, but also contemporary with real life issues. Love the idea! I
Thank you, Patricia! The idea is really cool and I think that the contemporary issues help the book hit closer to home.
I’m always ready for a new Sci-fi. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Welcome to MMGM! I liked that this book had some STEM and Invention Convention ties
Thanks Ms. Yingling! I haven’t read the other books yet, but the series appears to have more whimsical contraptions to come.